Azerbaijan: Historic area of capital faces demolition threats to make way for parks
Destruction of historically significant structures goes against Baku’s master development plan.

The lack of green space in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku has long been an issue for city residents. But now preservationists are complaining that municipal officials intend to make way for public parks by destroying historically significant buildings.
Residents and activists assert that recent urban renewal work in Baku’s historic center is not part of the city’s master development plan and is thus illegal. “According to the newly approved master plan, these areas [of central Baku] are a special protection zone comprising 425 hectares. In these areas, it is completely illegal to carry out any restoration or construction work” without a lengthy review and approval process, local architect Dilgam Ismayilov noted in a social media post.
Telife Zeynalova owns three houses on a street named after Leopold and Mstislav Rostropovich; one dwelling is located near the house-museum where the father-and-son virtuosos resided when they called Baku home in the late 1920s. In late December, Zeynalova unexpectedly found her house near the museum in ruins, a tangle of shattered walls, broken beams and debris covering the floor.
“In what age are we living so that somebody can just come and knock down your house?” she lamented in a brief interview with Eurasianet.
The outcry by Ismayilov and others has succeeded in at least one instance in disrupting demolitions. He posted a video on January 19 of one home near the Rostropovich museum in the process of being gutted. Azerbaijan’s State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture responded to the post, saying that demolition work at that site had been halted.
“The Baku City Main Department for Architecture and Urban Planning stopped the illegal work being carried out some time ago and relevant agencies, as well as the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, considering that it is a historical monument, were informed in order to take appropriate measures,” the statement said, without disclosing who gutted the inside of the structure.
Neighborhood residents say demolition work in the area started in November. Eurasianet could identify at least four structures around the museum that were half demolished. According to residents, the owners of those buildings accepted compensation offers of 3,000 manats (about USD $1,765) per square meter. Zeynalova said her dwelling had a higher market value, but there was little she could do. “Nobody came up to me to discuss anything, they went right after the house,” she said.
It is not the first time demolition work in the capital has become an issue. Over a decade ago, urban renewal efforts generated widespread criticism, as old structures were razed to make way for high-rises, as well as venues such as Crystal Palace, which hosted Eurovision song contest in 2012, and the Victory Museum.
The recent demolition work has attracted local broadcast media coverage, but the reporting so far has mainly focused on compensation for those being forced to leave their homes. Coverage has not mentioned the preservationist aspect of the issue.
Authorities contend that many of the structures targeted for clearance are in dilapidated condition. Architects and urban planners are channeling the spirit of Jane Jacobs, the godmother of historic preservation, in pushing back to maintain a sense of early 20th century Baku, when an oil boom fueled the construction of many architectural gems.
"The reconstruction of the central historical quarters of this district should serve as a model for heritage preservation, attracting tourists, and—most importantly—maintaining the local community. However, the reality is quite the opposite," architect Abdul Huseynov wrote in a social media post.
Huseynov told Eurasianet other architecturally significant buildings in the Sovietskaya neighborhood are also under threat. “At the end of last year, we sent letters to government agencies asking for help in preserving the traditional, neighborhood development [or mahallah]. But we were told that architectural monuments will be preserved. However, there was no talk of preserving traditional neighborhoods,” he wrote in an email interview.
An inventory process is underway in Sovietskaya, and eventually a park is slated to replace torn-down buildings.
Ismayilov, the architect, told Eurasianet that preservationists have been voicing concerns about demolitions since August, when the first signs of inventorying appeared in the form of spray-painted numbers on buildings marked for clearance. He mentioned that the definition of what structures can be considered ‘historically significant“ is the focal point of contention. ”Will the Rostropovich museum be a sole spot in an empty park?” he asked, saying such an arrangement would represent a distortion of history. “After all, Rostropovich did not grow up in a single spot, he grew up in the whole neighborhood.”
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